Overnight Income Doesn't Float ERISA Plan's Boat.

Pillar Denton Ltd & others v Jervis & others [2014] EWCA 180 (“Game Station”)

The outcome of this appeal has been awaited with a high degree of interest.  The issue was the extent to which rent should be payable as an expense of an administration or liquidation; if it is payable as an expense, it sits near the top of the priority order for the distribution of the tenant’s assets, and will usually be paid in full.  Otherwise, it is among the unsecured debts, and the landlord will have to wait for whatever dividend is ultimately payable.

The Canadian online dating service PlentyofFish.com had been attempting to purchase the 43 million member database of bankrupt dating site True Beginnings. Information in the database included dates of birth, usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, as well as dating profiles. The database purchase price was set at $700,000. The Texas Attorney General, however, filed an objection with the bankruptcy court on the grounds that the purchase would be a violation of True Beginnings’ privacy policy, since members had not agreed to have their information sold.

On October 30th, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") adopted new final rules imposing requirements on swap dealers and major swap participants with respect to the treatment of collateral posted by their counterparties to margin, guarantee, or secure uncleared swaps.

I have blogged several times about the difficulties of preserving non-qualified plan benefits, particularly when the plan sponsor goes bankrupt. At the time of a bankruptcy, the company's non-qualified plan becomes nothing more than an unfunded promise to pay benefits and participants usually have to get in line with the company's other creditors. The recent decision in Tate v. General Motors LLC (56 EBC 1363, 6th Cir.

On June 10th, the FDIC published the final rule establishing the criteria for determining if a company is predominantly engaged in "activities that are financial in nature or incidental thereto" for purposes of Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act and therefore subject to the FDIC's orderly liquidation authority.

The European Court of Justice (the “ECJ”) this morning delivered its ruling in the case of Hogan and Others v Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ireland, Attorney General (the “Waterford Crystal case”). The Court held that Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 8 of Directive 2008/94 EC (the “Directive”) on the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer.

In Sposato v. First Mariner Bank, 2013 WL 1308582 (D. Md.

Digital Satellite Warranty Cover Limited (“DSWC”) and Michael Sullivan and Bernard Freeman (trading as ‘Satellite Services’) v Financial Services Authority

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